1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for processing data using information gained from examining biological material. In particular, a preferred embodiment of the invention relates to analysis of processed image data from scanned biological probe arrays for the purpose of determining genotype information via identification of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (referred to as SNPs).
2. Related Art
Synthesized nucleic acid probe arrays, such as Affymetrix GENECHIP® probe arrays, and spotted probe arrays, have been used to generate unprecedented amounts of information about biological systems. For example, the GENECHIP® Mapping 500K Array Set available from Affymetrix, Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., is comprised of two microarrays capable of genotyping on average 250,000 SNPs per array. Newer arrays developed by Affymetrix can contain probes sufficient to genotype up to one million SNPs per array. Analysis of genotype data from such microarrays may lead to the development of new drugs and new diagnostic tools.